Feb 24, 2005

How Wealthy are You?

I live in the U$A, which is well known for its emphasis on the accumulation of wealth. Which brings up an interesting philosophical question: What is Wealth?

An obvious definition is "wealth is the total monetary value of your assets minus liabilities", but I think a more useful definition is "wealth is experiencing the things that you value". This definition takes into account the fact that many valuable things cannot be purchased with money, and that wealth is more of an emotion than a number.

An enlightening exercise is to create a prioritized list of the things that you value and then figure out how many of them you are currently experiencing in your life. Here is a selection of items to get you started:

health

a good night's sleep

reading a good book

friendship

romance

passion

international travel

financial security

children

pets

jewelry

enjoying a sport

good food

fashion

laughter

music

a sense of purpose

art

good weather

nice car

big house

flowers

Many people with a large wealth based on the assets-liabilities definition find themselves to be poor based on the experiencing-your-values definition. I bet that people are happier when they make choices based on the latter.

Comments

I really liked this post because I do think sometimes all of us at some point in our lives fall victims to the capitalistic cycle that is inculcated by our environment. Wealth to a true capitalist is the mere accumulation of monetary richness, however I think this is a very limited and narrow way of looking at the true meaning of wealth. In my eyes wealth, or the accumulation thereof is a non-static, and constant target. I also belief there is not a universal definition of being "wealthy." I do think some might view it only from a monetary perspective, but I believe most rational and well-rounded people would say that being wealthy encompasses more than just having a boat load of money. A truly wealthy person, in my eyes, is surrounded by loved ones, by friends, and has a meaning and purpose in life beyond him or herself. A wealthy person has a cause to live far beyond 'making money.' A wealthy person smiles at the sign of the cherry blossoms blooming. A wealthy person smiles at the thought of a baby uttering its first words. A wealthy person cherishes the thought of giving and helping the needy. I think a person that is wealthy is so because of the connections he or she has made with other human beings. I think nobody is every 1000% wealthy because as I said, achieving wealth is a moving target that changes depending on the moment in time one is living.

A sweetly succinct excerpt on finding
truly important things. Consider also that "wealth" implies a comparison.

In the barest sense, this is the equation "what you have compared to what you owe." Experientially, it is a comparison to lesser quality (or "value" you say) experiences - experiences whose very quality *should* be self-ascribed.

This is in contrast to using other's quality judgements to make that determination.

I completely agree with your definition. From my perspective, wealth also includes being appreciative for what you have. When you are thankful, fear disappears and is replaced by a sense of true wealth and wellbeing.